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{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Odessa Sathyan
| image = Odessa Satyan.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_name = Cheeram Veetti Sathyan
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1957|10|10}}
| birth_place = [[Vatakara]], Kerala, [[India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2014|08|19|1957|10|10}}
| death_place = Kerala, India
| restingplace = Narayana Nagar, Kozhikode, India
| occupation = Filmmaker, social activist
| spouse = Jennifer; 2 daughters
| website = {{URL||Official web site}}
| awards = Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award<br>Special Jury Prize IFFK}}

'''Cheeram Veetti Sathyan''' (10 October 1957 – 19 August 2014), popularly known as '''Odessa Sathyan''' was an Indian documentary filmmaker and social activist, known for his involvement in the naxal movements of the seventies in [[Kerala]] and his association with ''Odessa Collective'', a people's film movement which was founded by the noted Malayalam filmmaker, [[John Abraham (director)|John Abraham]]. He received the [[Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi]] award,<ref name="Mathrubhumi video">{{cite web|url=http://mathrubhuminews.in/ee/ReadMore/9203/noted-documentary-filmmaker-odessa-sathyan-dies/E|title=Mathrubhumi video|publisher=Matheubhumi TV|work=Video|date=19 August 2014|accessdate=20 August 2014}}</ref> for his musical documentary ''Balikurup'', a film on Malayalam poet, [[A. Ayyappan]].<ref name="Balikurup">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtYzA4Q8QKUTjJHsVkDC2g|title=Balikurup|publisher=YouTube|work=video|date=8 October 2012|accessdate=20 August 2014|author=Odessa Sathyan}}</ref>

==Biography==
C. V. Sathyan was born on 10 October 1957, at [[Vatakara]], in [[Kozhikode]] district, in the South Indian state of [[Kerala]], to Cheeramveettil Kunkan and Cheeru.<ref name="Indian Express Bio">{{cite web|url=http://m.newindianexpress.com/kerala/353065|title=Indian Express Bio|publisher=The New Indian Express|date=20 August 2014|accessdate=20 August 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140822082201/http://m.newindianexpress.com/kerala/353065|archivedate=22 August 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref> He was attracted by the leftist movement early on in his life and was associated with the social activism, in the district of Kozhikode, in the 1970s. These activities gathered momentum when he joined the [[naxalite]] movement.<ref name="Metro Matinee">{{cite web|url=http://www.metromatinee.com/news-articles/parallel-cinema-activist-odessa-sathyan-passes-away-9224|title=Metro Matinee|publisher=Metro Matinee|work=News report|date=19 August 2014|accessdate=20 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821195725/http://www.metromatinee.com/news-articles/parallel-cinema-activist-odessa-sathyan-passes-away-9224|archive-date=21 August 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The next phase of his life started with his association with the renowned filmmaker [[John Abraham (director)|John Abraham]].<ref name="Metro Matinee"/> Together, they launched ''Odessa Collective'', a people's film movement, which made films such as [[Amma Ariyan]], which gained critical and social acclaim. With John Abraham's death, in 1987, the movement lost its steam but Sathyan tried to carry it forward singlehandedly by founding ''Odessa Movies'' and keeping the free public screening of films on with a small projector.

Sathyan was married to Jennifer, a college lecturer, and had two daughters, Sandra and Soya.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/> He died on 19 August 2014, aged 56, succumbing to pancreatic cancer at the [[Kozhikode Medical College]]. His body was laid to rest at his residence at Narayana Nagar, Kozhikode.<ref name="English Manorama">{{cite web|url=http://beta.english.manoramaonline.com/news/kerala/filmmaker-odessa-sathyan-passes-away.html|title=English Manorama|publisher=Manorama Online|work=News report|date=19 August 2014|accessdate=20 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821192140/http://beta.english.manoramaonline.com/news/kerala/filmmaker-odessa-sathyan-passes-away.html|archive-date=21 August 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Social activism==
Sathyan's social life was kickstarted by the trade union movements of 1970s, in Kerala, when he got actively involved in many of the leftist activities during that time in Kozhikode. He was reported to have been associated with the trade union strikes at ''Iringalpara'' and other areas in Kozhikode. Later, Sathyan joined the naxalite movement<ref name="The Hindu Ajith Kumar">{{cite web|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/kozhikode/odessa-sathyan-was-committed-to-society/article6333825.ece|title='Odessa' Sathyan was committed to society|publisher=The Hindu|work=Web article|date=20 August 2014|accessdate=21 August 2014|author=Ajith Kumar}}</ref> and became the Kozhikode district Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) and had to undergo imprisonment during the [[The Emergency (India)|Emergency]] period of 1975–77. He was said to be one of the leaders of a ''people's mass trial'', conducted by the CPI ML, at the Kozhikode Medical College Campus.<ref name="Calicut University">{{cite web|url=http://www.universityofcalicut.info/SDE/VI_SemContemporary_Kerala.pdf|title=Contemporary Kerala|publisher=Calicut University|work=Study Material|accessdate=21 August 2014|author=Dr. N. Padmanabhan}}</ref>

==Film career==
The friendship with John Abraham influenced Sathyan to join the ''Odessa Collective'' initiative.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/> He participated the activities of the movement and the group, by collecting donations from the public, produced [[Amma Ariyan]], widely regarded as the first people's cinema in India, and exhibited the film all over Kerala, free of charge. With John Abraham's death in 1987, the movement withered but Sathyan established ''Odessa Movies'' to carry the activities forward.<ref name="English Manorama"/> His active association with the movement earned him the nickname ''Odessa Sathyan.''

Sathyan made five documentaries and a musical album.
* ''Ithrayum Yathabhagam'' (''The Path Traversed''): a documentary on the life and works of noted Malayalam poet, [[A. Ayyappan]]. Sathyan's relationship with the poet was widely known<ref name="Lives Less Ordinary - Ayyappan with Sathyan and Jenny - Part 1">{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7xpR1zUFUI|title=Lives Less Ordinary – Ayyappan with Sathyan and Jenny – Part 1|publisher=Sudhi Narayanan|date=8 December 2010|people=Ayyappan, Sathyan and Jennifer|medium=Video|location=Kozhikode}}</ref><ref name="Lives Less Ordinary - Ayyappan with Sathyan and Jenny - Part 2">{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1dnD9venk8|title=Lives Less Ordinary – Ayyappan with Sathyan and Jenny – Part 2|publisher=Sudhi Narayanan|date=8 December 2010|people=Ayyappan, Sathyan and Jennifer|medium=Video|location=Kozhikode}}</ref><ref name="Lives Less Ordinary - Ayyappan with Sathyan and Jenny - Part 3">{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs-s-36-0QY|title=Lives Less Ordinary – Ayyappan with Sathyan and Jenny – Part 3|publisher=Sudhi Narayanan|date=8 December 2010|people=Ayyappan, Sathyan and Jennifer|medium=Video|location=Kozhikode}}</ref> and the documentary was the filmmaker's attempt to look at the poet's life from the perspective of an insider.<ref name="Metro Matinee"/><ref name="Mathrubhumi">{{cite web|url=http://mathrubhuminews.in/ee/ReadMore/9203/noted-documentary-filmmaker-odessa-sathyan-dies/E|title=Mathrubhumi|publisher=Mathrubhumi online|work=News report and video|date=19 August 2014|accessdate=20 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="English Manorama"/>
* ''Vettayadappetta Manasu'' (The Haunted Mind) : The documentary narrates the story of Ramachandran Nair,<ref name="Confessions of a Cop">{{cite web|url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article/Confessions-Of-A-Cop/206579|title=Confessions of a Cop|publisher=Outlook India|work=Article|date=23 November 1998|accessdate=20 August 2014|author=Venu Menon}}</ref> a police officer who made headlines by confessing on killing the Naxalite leader, [[Arikkad Varghese|Varghese]].<ref name="Metro Matinee"/><ref name="Mathrubhumi"/>
* ''Mortuary of Love'': A documentary on emotional and carnal natures of love and sexual exploitation of young girls.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/><ref name="English Manorama"/>
* ''Agnirekha'' (''The Blazing Course''): A documentary on the life of Angadippuram Balakriishnan, a Naxal activist hailed as a martyr by the movement.<ref name="English Manorama"/><ref name="Agnirekha">{{cite web|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/decision-to-screen-odessa-film-welcomed/article3485720.ece|title=Agnirekha|publisher=The Hindu|work=Web article|date=23 June 2012|accessdate=21 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="Angadippuram Balakrishnan">{{cite web|url=http://www.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/malayalamContentView.do?contentId=17396116&programId=3982928&channelId=-1073750705&BV_ID=@@@&tabId=3|title=Angadippuram Balakrishnan|publisher=Manorama Online|work=News report|date=19 August 2014|accessdate=20 August 2014|author=Staff Reporter}}</ref>
* ''Visudha Pashu'' (''The Holy Cow''): In the post production stage, under editing.
* ''Balikurippu'' (The Sacrificial Note): A musical on the life of the poet, A. Ayyappan.<ref name="Balikurup"/>

==Awards and recognitions==
His musical documentary, ''Balikurippu'', has received [[Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi]] award in the category musical videos.<ref name="Mathrubhumi video"/> Balikurippu also won the Special Jury Award, at the 6th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala, in 2013.<ref name="IFFK">{{cite web|url=http://www.iffk.in/idsffk/awardfilms.php|title=IFFK|publisher=International Film Festival of Kerala|work=web site|accessdate=20 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821205651/http://www.iffk.in/idsffk/awardfilms.php|archive-date=21 August 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Asianet video">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyBv7MFEyv0|title=Asianet video|publisher=Asianet TV|date=19 August 2014|accessdate=20 August 2014}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[John Abraham (director)]]
* [[A. Ayyappan]]

{{portal|India}}

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=50em}}

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS3W_ev30S0 Documentary on the life of Sathyan – Kairali TV video – Part 1]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW_-oWFUGaw Documentary on the life of Sathyan – Kairali TV video – Part 2]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTDtGb-ofRg Sathyan at the 18th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK)]
* [http://www.madhyamam.com/en/node/26210 News report on Madhyamam daily]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140820000546/http://www.mathrubhumi.com/english/news/malayalam/documentary-filmmaker-odessa-sathyan-passes-away-in-kozhikode-150665.html News report on Mathrubhumi News]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ta2BnVhNuU News report on Kaiali TV (YouTube video)]
* {{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7xpR1zUFUI|title=Lives Less Ordinary – Ayyappan with Sathyan and Jenny – Part 1|publisher=Sudhi Narayanan|date=8 December 2010|people=Ayyappan, Sathyan and Jennifer|medium=Video|location=Kozhikode}}
* {{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1dnD9venk8|title=Lives Less Ordinary – Ayyappan with Sathyan and Jenny – Part 2|publisher=Sudhi Narayanan|date=8 December 2010|people=Ayyappan, Sathyan and Jennifer|medium=Video|location=Kozhikode}}
* {{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs-s-36-0QY|title=Lives Less Ordinary – Ayyappan with Sathyan and Jenny – Part 3 |publisher=Sudhi Narayanan|date=8 December 2010|people=Ayyappan, Sathyan and Jennifer|medium=Video|location=Kozhikode}}
* [http://msidb.org/displayProfile.php?category=actors&artist=Odessa%20Satyan Profile write up of Odessa Sathyan in www.malayalasangeetham.info]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sathyan, Odessa}}
[[Category:1957 births]]
[[Category:2014 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian documentary filmmakers]]
[[Category:People from Kozhikode district]]
[[Category:Malayali people]]
[[Category:Deaths from pancreatic cancer]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in India]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian film directors]]
[[Category:Film directors from Kerala]]
[[Category:Activists from Kerala]]

Odessa Sathyan - Revision history

imported>AARYA SAJAYAN at 05:00, 30 March 2021